There has been an increased interest in biomarkers to be used in methods for diagnosing different medical conditions of patients. Lately, there has been found that some of these biomarkers may be traced in samples from exhaled breath for example by using exhaled breath condensate (EBC) i.e. exhaled water vapour that is condensed by the means of low temperature, where both volatile and non-volatile compounds have been identified. The non-volatiles found in EBC are believed to originate from particles formed within the airways. The collection of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is connected with a number of serious methodological difficulties such as dilution with water resulting in very low concentrations of the substances of interest, high contamination with substances originating from the oral cavity, high intraindividual coefficient of variation and a very inefficient way to sample the non-volatiles found in EBC. Hence there is a need for better non-invasive methods to detect and monitor adverse health effects of the respiratory system. Non-volatile compounds are transported by aerosol particles that are believed to derive from the respiratory tract lining fluid, lung alveoli or bronchioles.
There is a lack of methods for easy monitoring of the airways and to also allow frequent sampling. Measuring biomarkers in exhaled air is non-invasive and enables repeated sampling which can be useful for early detection of disease as well as monitoring of disease progression and therapy response.
Thus, there is a need to provide a non-invasive based apparatus, system and/or method for detecting the presence (i.e. qualitative) or determining the quantitative amount of at least one biomarker for medical diagnosis of a subject. Particularly, a device and method being easy to use with no or little training, especially a device and method for directly, at the site/on-site, screening a subject for a medical diseases or illnesses would be advantageously. The device and method should have a sensitive for biomarkers high enough to obtain results of a standard that could be used for diagnosis of medical conditions.
Hence, an improved apparatus, system and/or method for at site/on site sampling of biomarkers from a subject is desired. The apparatus, system and/or method should be efficient, non-bulky, user friendly both for operators and the subject.